C²Law :: blog

Even more reasons to have a last will + testament . . .

August 31, 2010 at 2:32 pm 2 comments

In my last post, I reviewed the law in Tennessee on intestate succession – e.g., what happens to your estate (your stuff) when you die without a will.  This ‘default’ plan for distributing your estate likely is reason enough to create a last will and testament.

But there are more reasons, just in case you were wondering . . .

In discussing with clients why they want to create a well-thought-out will document, I universally get agreement with the proposition that a properly-drafted will should both save the time and effort of the person/people who are dealing with the estate’s probate process AND it should eliminate as much probate-related expense as possible.  Both of these are worthy goals, and are easy to achieve.  But planning is necessary!

In Tennesssee, there are a lot of ‘hoops’ one must jump through when administering an estate that didn’t plan properly for probate – whether an intestate estate (no will at all) or an estate of someone who simply had a poorly-drafted will document.

One of the hoops – that can require significant time on the part of the executor, or significant expense on the part of the estate if professionals must be hired to complete this requirement:  an accounting of the estate’s contents.  The personal representative has to file a statement of all receipts, disbursements and distributions of principal and income for the accounting period and the remaining assets held in the estate – both initially, when the estate is opened, and annually until the estate is closed.  See Tennessee Code 30-2-601 et seq.

The accounting can be effectively waived in a properly-drafted will, thus saving your executor a great deal of time and your estate the expense.

Another hoop is the estate inventory.  Unless properly waived in a will, then the personal representative has to make a “complete and accurate inventory of the probate estate of the deceased.”  This is then filed with the probate court clerk.  See Tennessee Code 30-2-301 et seq.

Again, this hoop requires a significant expenditure of time on the part of the personal representative – and/or expense if professionals must be paid to complete this work.

I once worked on behalf of a family whose matriarch had died rather unexpectedly.  Her will was drafted decades earlier, and didn’t waive inventory.  It turned out that she had thousands of antique items – she’d been an avid collector for years.  The family was ready to simply divvy everything up and sell what no one wanted, and had even reached agreement on these points.  But a full inventory was still required, which took a LONG time to document.  The cost was real in terms of time, but also in terms of emotional involvement.  The family members weren’t well-served by dealing with this administrative task while in the midst of mourning their loss.

Creating an effective will document, whether your circumstances are simple or complicated, can be a fast and easy process.  Just do it.

Entry filed under: Estate Planning. Tags: accounting, estate, Estate Planning, heirs, intestate, inventory, last will and testament, will.